A Tai Pei Personality

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The corporate world often utilizes personality profiling tools to determine which category or personality type employees fall into. This is typically done for two reasons:

  • To gain insight into our learning styles, tendencies, and blind spots.
  • To leverage our strengths and talents for the company’s benefit.

When I was in the corporate world, it was determined that I’m an ENTP on the Myers Briggs, a Maximizer on Strengthsfinder, a high D on the DISC, and orange on the True Colors assessment. Bottom line on top: a Type A personality.

A person with a Type A personality is said to be:

Impatient, have difficulty expressing emotions, competitive, drive, perfectionism, and has an unhealthy dependence on external rewards such as wealth, status, or power. 

From my perspective, this doesn’t describe me accurately.

Tai Pei

If I’m going to be labeled, I prefer Tai Pei as opposed to Type A — thank you very much — it’s more to my liking and perfectly suits my taste.

Have you ever been designated with a label you didn’t care for?

— Laurie Buchanan

“Whatever you are not changing, you are  choosing.” — Laurie Buchanan

The Book — Discovering the Seven Selves
The Experience — Life Harmony

© Laurie Buchanan 2014

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78 thoughts on “A Tai Pei Personality”

  1. How funny, Laurie! I’ve been labeled lots of things that probably didn’t fit and I didn’t appreciate. On Myers Briggs, I’m an INFJ–the author. What a surprise that was! LOL

    Hugs from Ecuador,
    Kathy

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  2. It seems to be a human tendency to want to label everything and everyone, doesn’t it? Possibly it makes us feel we can understand the things we’ve named, having put them in a category. But yes, we miss so much because it leaves so much out to confine our thinking that way. Love the pun, Laurie. 🙂

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  4. Oh Laurie, I love this! *LOL* I see by another blogger that she and I are both “INFJ” according to Myers-Briggs! Well now, there’s a label I like! 🙂 Thank you, Laurie! Happy Tuesday! Cher xo

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  5. We use labels because we don’t take the time to understand other people. It’s like judging a book by its cover. We all do it. And we’re often soooo wrong.

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  6. On the Myers-Briggs my label was ENFJ, which served me well as a professor. Now in the writing world, I don’t care a flying fig for funny labels. Balanced and true are the labels I’m aiming for now.

    Your pun is priceless, Laurie. The photo clear and warm. Like you!

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  9. As usual — love your play on words and the fun you have with language. I would agree — to many degrees, I’m a Type A, also — well, probably mostly. But in other ways, not as much. Labels suck. Period. We’re all individual and unique and wonderful, and those tests only go so far, in my humble opinion!

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  10. Laurie, I definitely prefer that interpretation of ‘Tai Pei’ too! Right up my street!

    But yes, that Type A does NOT fit you in any way, shape or form. Not one iota. It’s like that is exactly the opposite of what you strive and stand for. I was labeled “Gumby” by friends many years ago for my ability to bend. Well, I guess that is no longer applicable. Ha!!!

    Another marvelous post!

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  11. Sometimes , Laurie , labels can help . When you think you ‘re going a little mad and there doesn’t seem to be any explanation for your behavior and then someone ‘in the know’ puts a label on you …you think YES !!! that ‘s me , I do that …oh thank God I’m not the only one . So sometimes, only sometimes , a label feels good .
    Cherry x

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  12. Ha! Type A will never be the same for me again. You are off the charts on creativity and productivity, Tai Pei.

    I’m a blue-green INTJ with high E and F also. But with N off the charts. I forget DISC. On Strengthsfinder I am Achiever/Input/Strategic/Connectedness/. . .

    I like these instruments, but not because of the labels. Instead, I enjoy conversations with others that sometimes lead to “aha” moments about the mysteries of human behavior. I also like assembling teams with complementary skills and personalities.

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  13. Being a Virgo by star sign I am often reminded that I am a perfectionist which doesn’t fit to me because details often make my head hurt. Once a supervisor told me that when I thought I had done a job just good enough I would have done it better than anyone else expected. What she wanted me to to was be able to relax and not worry about if I needed to do it better… and to move on to the next thing that needed doing. It worked. I could easily determine this measure of success and decide if I could live with the result. I thank this person often for her insight and being able to provide a tool that has for many years easily fit comfortably into my tool box of life.

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    • Terrill – I enjoyed reading the wonderful backstory that’s helped you become the accomplished person you are today. And it’s so like you to continue to thank that person — to this day — for sharing her insight that you’ve leveraged in ways that are positive, uplifting, constructive, and healing 🙂

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  14. For me, the way I answer “those” questions could vary from day to day, depending on my mood, what’s going on in my life, many things. I feel I do not fit well into a box. Oh – I love your pun too.

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  15. I can certainly attest to the positive side of labels; my daughter has autism and the label is what guarantees her services she needs. On the other hand, it is a double edged sword that leads some to believe she is the sum of the label instead of an individual with individual strengths and weaknesses.

    For the record, I was coined “High I” when I was a corporate darling with Ford Motor Co. They found that pairing me with “High A” was best for both productivity and creativity! Where we are both highly motivated types the High A tends to lean too far toward rigid organization which quashes creativity and the High I tends not to have enough organization to contain the creativity effectively. Apparently, we would make a good team Laurie! 🙂

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    • Michele, I’ve been on the flip side of that situation. When I was originally diagnosed as dyslexic, I didn’t receive the label because they felt it would be a liability. But I don’t think it’s the label that is the issue but rather society’s translation of it.
      I admire what GLBT activities have done. They know the importance of coming out and being proud of who you are. I’d like to follow their led but I’m apprehensive. Something happens when you tell people your brain is ‘different’–undervaluing, pity….

      And, back in the day, I was categorized as an INFJ (though could easily be a ENFJ when needed) and my colour was Blue.

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      • Agreed Leanne, it is society’s interpretation of the label. With regard to autism, it depends upon the circle of society (i.e. school or social situations etc.) that we are interacting within whether or not the label becomes positive or negative. More so, I would assert even the individual, depending upon both their awareness and their level of compassion. Awareness is key and for us, sometimes that awareness comes when we make others first familiar with what the label means. Labels can be both a box and freedom from the box. It’s never an easy answer, eh?

  16. Hi Laurie! Again, another great post. 🙂

    I’m going with Tai Pei.

    Or PEIC (pronounced “pike”) which means, “People Evolving Into Confidence.”

    Of course, I made that up and it’s silly. (I don’t like labels.)

    According to Myers-Briggs, I’m an INTJ. This hasn’t changed – ever – since my 20s. Not sure what that means.

    So, I’m staying with Tai Pei. 🙂

    Great post. Thank you for your thoughtful posts. I look forward to reading them each week.

    Cheers, Deborah

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    • Deborah – I like your PEIC (pronounced “pike”). When I teach I use “PUCH” (pronounced “puck”) for Positive, Uplifting, Constructive, and Healing.

      I’m so glad you enjoy my posts (as I do yours). Thank you for letting me know 🙂

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  17. Hi Laurie

    At 5 years old I was told I was retarded,and would always be a drain on society.
    (In actual fact, I had a small flap of skin connecting the underside of my tongue to the floor of my mouth, which made it impossible for me to pronounce an “r” sound).

    I was also pigeon toed, knock kneeed, short, fat, and had a string of allergies which had me in itchy hives much of the time,

    I didn’t much like the label “retard”, and it gave me much delight 15 years later to be admitted to the high IQ society MENSA.

    That, and a bunch of other childhood experiences, gave me the motivation to question anything and everything, and to have a healthy disrespect for all aspects of authority.

    Now I am of the opinion that the only thing that approaches being sacred is sentient life.
    All beliefs and habits and cultures and ways of being are up for change.

    While I hated the label at the time, I can see now the important role it played in having me become who I now am.

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  18. I have carried so many labels a long the way it is awesome just to be at home and enjoy being with myself. There was a very important book in one of my psychology classes about not knowing what someone thinks of me – more important to know yourself. When I studied that book it gave me the freedom to release my family’s expectations of me – they were such perfectionists and I was not. I lead into life with my emotions and I am skilled I often do other people’s emotions for them – it takes practice to keep my boundaries in line.

    The worst label to live through was each year at school, my sister would remind the other children that I was born with cancer and they could catch it from me. My 5th grade teacher finally put an end to that idea – at least for the others in my classroom, but it still did not bring me friends, but the others were not afraid to touch a ball after I had handled it in PE.

    Having the next round of cancer during college when I was in North Carolina brought back the same stigma from others. Now at nearly 65 and 7 rounds of cancer later it is quite a survivor’s badge label I wear. Most of the people I consider good friends are all on line – even though I think folks are smarter now and more knowledgeable.

    I just reviewed a novel today about the stigma of growing up with a parent with schizophrenia and the worry that the main character might also develop that main illness. Fascinating study and well written novel. It is called THE ISOLATION DOOR and I could truly relate and it felt healing to read it.

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    • Patricia – Thank you for sharing part of your backstory. It seems like a book would simply flow from your wise fingertips. I know I would stand in line to read it! 🙂

      I look forward to reading your review on “the Isolation Door.”

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  20. Haha Laurie, I love the wordplay!
    I once had a psychometric test for a job, you had to pick the word that best and least described you out of blocks of 4 words. The word ‘gregarious’ kept coming up. At the time I didn’t know what the word meant so I didn’t pick it at all, and there was no dictionary available. I was i room on my own. When recruitment lady came back, I asked her straight away what it meant. She told me it means outgoing etc. I said well there should be a dictionary because had i known that, I would have picked that a few times. She went on to read my assessment. The result was that i was ‘unsociable’ and ‘too helpful’. I said well obviously my not picking the word gregarious a few times has led to the ‘unsociable’ result, obviously it can’t be right because how can somebody who is too helpful also be unsociable. She refused to see beyond the result or all my explanation to mitigate it.
    No matter, now i look back i’m glad i didn’t get the job 🙂

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    • Dynamo Di — THANK YOU for sharing your story. Isn’t hind sight a wonderful thing? It’s in the looking back that you’re able to smile at the experience and know it was terrific fortune that you didn’t get that particular job.

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  21. I’m an A/B personality type. I have difficulty expressing emotions but I don’t need external stuff. By the way, I lived in Tai Pei and I’d never eat it. Very nice folk over there. Never feared for my life but the pollution is off the charts.

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    • Totsymae — As one of your blog subscribers, I’m familiar with your wonderful artwork and clearly you express yourself beautifully in that venue (as well as the humorous writing that goes along with it) 🙂

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      • Thank you. I think the written and visual expression comes easier than the other stuff. I mean, I’ve gotten better at communicating otherwise, over time, but I’ve not come close to the finish line just yet.

  22. Tai Pei…I like that! I was Green on true colors. I think it’s probably pretty accurate. Although some days I think I’m purple, red, yellow…I prefer to be a rainbow thanks very much.

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  23. Laurie, what an interesting post! Having been labeled many times by other people has given me a lot of insight on them. The need to label people. For all intents and purposes I would say I am almost exactly like Sandi.

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  24. Tai Pai! That’s just great. I am certain that through the years I’ve been labeled a lot of things I didn’t agree with. Funny how I can’t think of them right now…I must have decided long ago that I, too, don’t need to wear the description. 🙂

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  28. You are a hoot, Laurie! You’re another one that loves having fun with words, I know. I have come to believe that almost every time when use a word, a sentence, a paragraph we’re labeling. Maybe what counts is to realize the impermanence of labels. The way they’re not really true…only reality rising and falling. I can find the Type A personality in myself, as well as the Type B and C (How many types are there anyway?) Thanks for this good thought. I actually thought about this on the way to Marquette the other day.

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  33. Haha, on Strengthsfinder I am “Achiever”. Surprise, surprise! (Actually, it WAS a surprise when I first got the results, because I am an ace Projector and always gave MARTY grief for being too focused on accomplishing things… Guess it was time to look in the mirror!)

    By the way, I wouldn’t take you for Type A at all. You seem too grounded and in the moment for that.

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  34. Reblogged this on Teacher as Transformer and commented:
    It took a couple of weeks to re-blog this, but I held onto it because it is a beautiful play on words and the way we see the world. I often refer to myself as the prototypical Type A person who is blessed with a a Type B person in Kathy. But, we both enjoy Tai Pei.

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